


Before the Triwizard Tournament

by reginaldthegreat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:27:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29614968
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reginaldthegreat/pseuds/reginaldthegreat
Summary: “When Cedric looked back at Cho, she was looking down at her herbology book, her silky, raven hair falling gracefully like a curtain around her face. Peeking through the strands were the remnants of her smile, the subtlety and secrecy of it filling him with a ray of hope.Maybe he did have a chance with her.”
Relationships: Cho Chang/Cedric Diggory, Neville Longbottom/Luna Lovegood
Kudos: 3





	1. Saving Grace

“Dried nettles have stinging hairs,” Professor Sprout exclaimed to her class of herbology students, “thus, be sure to be extra careful when handling the leaves.”

Cedric struggled to pay attention to the lesson, but his mind was adrift elsewhere. He thought about Harry, Hermione, Ron... and Cho.

With all the madness that surrounded the Golden Trio, Cedric knew that he was bound to be pushed into the sidelines. He was well liked, sure, but he was no Harry Potter. 

That being said, he didn’t particularly mind being overshadowed... most of the time. 

But occasionally, it was frustrating how, when the two of them were side by side, he was practically invisible. 

He eyed Cho from a few feet away, suddenly painstakingly and maddeningly _jealous_.

He wasn’t _blind_. He saw the way she looked at Harry. The way her onyx eyes always seemed trained on the back of his scarlet robes. 

It was excruciating, to say the least. 

“Diggory, would you care to tell how nettles are useful?” Professor Sprout asked her most diligent student, derailing his train of thought. 

“Oh, uh...” he sputtered, embarrassed. He was rarely ever caught off guard like this. 

Sprout waited, an eyebrow raised at him. 

He glanced between the many expectant eyes that were trained on him, hyperaware of how red his cheeks probably were. His gaze was destined to always hone in on Cho, of course. 

When his eyes landed on hers, he felt his stomach twist. She looked like she pitied him, her thin, dark eyebrows tilted up in the middle. 

He was about to apologize to Sprout, ready to accept the humiliation at this point, but Cho’s lips parted slightly. 

She was mouthing something to him...

...mouthing the answers.

 _Wine,_ she signaled soundlessly, her lips glossy from the chapstick she wore every day. _Soup. Tea._

The corner of Cedric’s mouth, the side of his face turned away from Sprout, quirked up the slightest bit. A ‘thank you’ only she would notice. 

She smiled back as he relayed the answers confidently. 

When he looked back at her, she was looking down at her herbology book, her silky, raven hair falling gracefully like a curtain around her face. Peeking through the strands were the remnants of her smile, the subtlety and secrecy of it filling him with a ray of hope. 

Maybe he did have a chance with her.


	2. The Beginning

Herbology was Cedric’s favorite class. Truth be told, he didn’t care much about plants, but he it was the only time of day where he’d get to see Cho. She’d likely be wearing the blue earmuffs he’d given her during a Christmas gift exchange. 

That gift exchange had been the beginning of it all. 

He remembered drawing her name from the hat, furrowing his eyebrows in frustration when he realized he had never heard of a _Cho Chang_ , before his best friend peered over his shoulder in curiosity. 

“Want to trade?” Ben asked, anguish in his voice. “I got Penny. Kind of cruel isn’t it? A man tries to have a bit of fun during the holidays and ends up having to buy a gift for his ex-girlfriend.”

“Umm, who is this?” Cedric asked distractedly, tilting the paper to show him the name. This was of course, against the rules, but whoever started this arrangement clearly forgot to cast a privacy spell over the slips of paper. 

“ _Merlin_ , of _course_ you’d get the hottest girl in Ravenclaw. Your bloody luck and all,” he groaned. 

Cedric would have been pleased with this, but he was still completely confused as to who this person was. 

“Over there,” Ben said, nudging him in the side, “behind Loony Lovegood.”

“Don’t call her that, you git,” he replied, but he followed his gaze regardless. 

There she was, completely and utterly beyond his expectations. She had long hair that swayed with her laugh and eyes that seemed to glitter like diamonds. She was chatting with her friends, her eyes crinkling lightly as she giggled in a manner that seemed to exude elegance and poise.

“Okay, I see what you mean,” Cedric said, unable to tear his eyes away. 

Ben gaped, glancing between his star-struck friend and the Ravenclaw in the corner, then cackled and clapped a hand on his back. 

“Damn, I never thought I’d see it- Diggory in _love_!” he shouted. 

“Shut up!” he shouted back, tearing his eyes away to wack Ben upside the head. 

As they squabbled, Cho looked over towards the commotion, amused and curious as to the identity of the handsome Hufflepuff boy with messy hair.


	3. Luna and Neville

Cedric stayed after Thursday’s herbology class to catch up on his plant study. He was supposed to have tested 3 samples over the course of the hour long class, but his attentions were stolen repeatedly by a certain girl and he’d fallen behind by a sample. 

He scowled at the powdered mandrake root at the bottom of the vial he’d been watching. Unfortunately, he’d been ordered to stir it by hand at even increments and _not_ use magic. Despite the mild annoyance, Cedric was a compliant boy.

Oh well, Ben and Diego would just have to wait for him in the Hufflepuff common room. 

Stirring at even increments, he was startled from his thoughts when he heard a scuffling in the next room of the greenhouse. Although the walls were glass and in theory, transparent, the age and years of grime had made them cloudy and stained. 

All he could see were two figures; one in red with mousey brown hair and another in blue, with long blonde hair, stride in in a hurry and shut the door behind them. 

“L-Luna,” a frustratingly familiar voice spoke nervously, “what if we get caught?” 

“What do you mean?” she replied, her voice as wispy as usual. Cedric had never paid much attention to her or voice before, but he was surprised to find out that it was quite pleasant and airy. 

“Like if Sprout comes in and catches us?” he cried.

“I suppose a woman as lovely as Miss Pomona would only celebrate the beginnings of young love,” she remarked cheerfully.

When her companion sputtered in embarrassment, the sudden realization hit Cedric like a pile of bricks. He knew that voice- it was that boy who was always hanging about the greenhouse with Sprout. He’d seen him often, as Sprout was Head of Hufflepuff House. 

What followed were the wet, sloppy sounds of snogging that only really sounded pleasant to those participating. 

Flushing from secondhand embarrassment, Cedric ducked down to hide. He knew he wouldn’t have anything to lose from being caught by those two, but the sheer mortification of being a voyeur in their secret romance was too much, even for someone as relaxed and open minded as him. 

He slowly, carefully placed the vials back in their stand. He could finish the experiment later, he decided. 

Cautiously, doing his best not to catch their attention, he slipped between the pans of incubating seeds, still ducking below the larger plants in front of the glass walls. 

It got incredibly silent for a moment, and Cedric looked up tentatively to see what had disturbed them. 

“The Nargles are making a fuss about Cedric in the other room,” Luna said simply. 

Damn it. 

“What? Cedric Diggory?” Neville squeaked. “I don’t see him!”

Cedric stood sheepishly, a hand reaching to rub the back his neck as he stepped into the open doorway between the two rooms. 

“In my defense, I was trying to figure out a way to leave so as not to disturb you,” he quipped, mortified. 

His own embarrassment was nothing compared to Neville’s. The boy was beet red, blood rushing to his cheeks, nose, and ears. 

“It’s alright, you weren’t disturbing us,” Luna replied dreamily on behalf of them both, “but if you would like to leave, just walk through the door.”

She pointed to the exit, completely misunderstanding his words. 

Cedric would have laughed, except at this point all he wanted to do was get the hell out. 

Luna had had Neville pushed up against the wall, her blue and silver scarf loose around his neck. She was still holding him there with her other hand as she tried to be helpful and direct Cedric to the exit. 

“Er- thank you,” he said quickly, turning on his heels as he did his best to keep himself from sprinting out the room. 

“I can’t believe he caught us,” Neville said, his voice weak with shame. 

“I’m glad he did. It turned your cheeks a lovely scarlet,” Luna offered, and the last thing Cedric heard before the greenhouse door shut behind him was the sound of Neville’s nervous laughter.


	4. Chocolates

“Here,” Neville said, thrusting a small bag of candy into Cedric’s hands as if the bag were on fire, a few days after their run-in in the greenhouse. 

“Uh, what’s this?” Cedric asked, reluctantly meeting the eyes of the awkward young man before him. 

“They’re from Luna,” he replied. “She... she was going on about how polite you were when... w-when... you know...”

He swallowed, dismissing the rest of his sentence with a shake of his head. “Well, she said that these are Cho’s favorite sweets and that you should give them to her.” 

Cedric’s eyes widened as he looked at the chocolates and their pink, metallic wrappers. 

“How did she know about Cho?” he asked. The only person who knew he liked her was Ben. 

He shrugged, glancing around as if he wanted to be anywhere but there. “I don’t know. Nothing gets past Luna, I suppose.”

Neville smiled faintly at the end of his sentence, his cheeks dusting pink as he spoke fondly of her. 

“Thank you,” Cedric said, not really sure how best to handle a situation like this one. “Tell her I said thank you as well.” 

The younger boy nodded and scampered away, leaving Cedric with an amused smile and an excuse to talk to Cho again.


End file.
